Like the transition between fall and winter, the turn from winter to spring is a dramatic one on the seasonal table. At our own farm – and the many farms of our friends and neighbors – winter is a time of minimal harvesting; the products we get during the colder months are either coming from greenhouses, or, in the case of root vegetables, root cellars filled with items harvested weeks or months before.

When considering wine pairings with dishes that feature these items, some thought must be given, as that “greeness” can clash with many fruit-driven wines, both red and white. What is desirable is a wine that shows a similar herbaceousness, one that can serve as a mirror to the flavors found in the dish.

White wines tend to work better than reds, and perhaps the very best of all is Grüner Veltliner. This Austrian white is a dream to work with this year, as even when fully ripe it retains a, well, “green” celery and white pepper-like flavor that matches perfectly with even the most intense spring flavors. Other white grapes that come to mind are Sauvignon Blanc (lean towards those from France or South Africa here. The Sincerely from Neil Ellis at Cunningham’s is a perfect example), Vermentino and Verdicchio.

For reds, as mentioned above, the options are more limited. My go-to here is Loire Valley Cabernet Franc. Like Grüner, it retains a certain herbaceousness – one often redolent of basil, rosemary or thyme – alongside its rather intense minerality. It is also extraordinarily undervalued: top-shelf examples can be found on our wine lists for well under $50.

All this said, perhaps my favorite match is neither white nor red but in fact rosé. Again, one needs to choose carefully here as lighter, drier, cripser rosés are going to make for far better pairings than their richer, fruitier cousins, but the category works quite well, in general. Champange tends to be too rich for most springtime cuisine, but lighter, more linear Blanc de Blancs can be nice, as can other sparklers from Loire or the Jura.

If all else fails, don’t forget about beer: Saison, either Belgian or American makes for some unexpectedly great pairings!

Of course, if you’d like to learn more about spring wine pairings, join us for our upcoming seasonal wine dinner at Fleet Street Kitchen. Chef Correll will be preparing some delicious dishes with some of the ingredients mentioned above and we will be pouring several of the varietals mentioned as well. For tickets, click the image above or call 410-244-5830.

]]>https://thebagbykitchen.wordpress.com/2015/04/06/spring-in-your-glass-seasonal-wine-recommendations-from-fleet-street-kitchen/feed/0springwhitewinesbagbygroupFSKWineDinnerSpringFlyer“Spring Into Cooking” with Chef Michael Correll – Saturday, March 28th, 2015https://thebagbykitchen.wordpress.com/2015/03/08/spring-into-cooking-with-chef-michael-correll-saturday-march-28th-2015/
https://thebagbykitchen.wordpress.com/2015/03/08/spring-into-cooking-with-chef-michael-correll-saturday-march-28th-2015/#respondSun, 08 Mar 2015 04:08:27 +0000http://thebagbykitchen.wordpress.com/?p=299
]]>https://thebagbykitchen.wordpress.com/2015/03/08/spring-into-cooking-with-chef-michael-correll-saturday-march-28th-2015/feed/0bagbygroupFSKWholeFoodFlyerPies, Cookies, & A Perfect Dinner For The Fall Harvest at Cunningham’s Cafehttps://thebagbykitchen.wordpress.com/2014/11/10/pies-cookies-a-perfect-dinner-for-the-fall-harvest-at-cunninghams-cafe/
https://thebagbykitchen.wordpress.com/2014/11/10/pies-cookies-a-perfect-dinner-for-the-fall-harvest-at-cunninghams-cafe/#respondMon, 10 Nov 2014 14:51:02 +0000http://thebagbykitchen.wordpress.com/?p=293Continue reading →]]>I know I’m not alone in saying this, but fall has always been my favorite season. The vibrant colors, the crisp air, and of course the food. Since we opened the cafe back in March, I’ve been anxious for the colder weather to arrive so our baristas could start serving some of my favorite house made concoctions and combinations (Habanero Hot Chocolate, anyone?). Fall temperatures have been a little late to arrive in Baltimore this year, but the harvest we’ve received from the farm the past few weeks has been absolutely gorgeous–dark green Fairytale pumpkins with their more conventional looking Long Island Cheese counterparts, piles of Butternut Squash, Cauliflower, Broccoli Rabe, Napa Cabbage, Leeks, Artichokes, and Fennel (to name a few!). We’re always looking for new ways to share our farm fresh bounty with the community, and last month month we hosted our very first pop up dinner to do just that.

We were joined by 34 excited guests to partake in the wonderful dishes that Chefs Jason Lear and Kristoffer Vandevander prepared–everything from our own Butternut Squash to Ferguson Farms’ incredible Short Rib. Baker John Aversa’s wonderful bread was available to all– freshly baked boules of Sweet Potato Pepitas complimented the menu nicely (Check out his recent feature in Baltimore Magazine). Along with dinner, guests had a choice of beer or wine (some seasonal beer offerings from Brewer’s Art as well as our own Cunningham’s Cuvee, a Cote Du Rhone red blended by our talented Beverage Director Tim Riley). Then there was dessert! Our incredible pastry department, with Executive Chef Angie Law at the helm, created some absolutely stunning desserts: Cranberry Lemon Meringue Pie [pictured], Pumpkin Chiffon Pie, and a Chocolate Pecan Tart. To accompany dessert, we offered Hot Apple Cider and espresso beverages crafted from Ceremony’s delicious Mass Appeal blend.

For anyone interested, we will be pre-selling those desserts in the cafe, as well as a Pumpkin Roll with Cream Cheese Filling, for the Thanksgiving holiday. Order by Sunday, November 23rd in the cafe and your dessert(s) will be available for pickup Wednesday, November 26th. The desserts range from $24-$32 and serve between 8-12 people. To order or for more information on pies and cookies available call 410-339-7750

We had a really lovely evening with the guests who joined us. Since the seating and plates we offered were family style, it really encouraged everyone to relax and make friends. By the end of the evening, it was difficult to tell who had arrived together and who had started as perfect strangers. To everyone that joined us: thank you so much, we are always amazed by the warm and generous spirit of this community and we hope to offer another “after-hours” event in the cafe very soon! Stay tuned for more “pop-up” events in the new year by signing up for our email list or following us Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We have some exciting things on the horizon here at Cunningham’s Cafe!

This blog post comes from Megan Parker, the new General Manager of The Bagby Group’s upcoming Cunningham’s Cafe & Bakery. On her own volition, she wanted to learn more about the artisan bread that will be offered this fall at the new Towson cafe. This was her experience with Bagby Head Baker John Aversa…

“Few things are as ordinary as a loaf of bread, yet the process by which it is made is extraordinary” – Michael Pollan, Cooked.

During my years as a restaurant manager, 10pm used to be the middle of my workday; a whirling medley of food, wine, servers, guests, plates, glasses, and silverware. Thus it felt strange – though also calming – to arrive at Fleet Street Kitchen at that hour to begin an all-night shift baking bread.

Baking bread for a living is not easy work; the long, odd hours – times when most of us are fast asleep – is just one of the hardships bakers endure. The heat is another. Difficult even today, for centuries bakers worked in their underwear, straining amid the torrid calidity of their bakeshops. (Don’t worry folks – everyone at Fleet Street Kitchen is fully clothed!)

Bakers have also been the targets of violence during times of political strife. During the French Revolution, accused of cheating their customers on weight, some were quite literally thrown into their ovens. Responding to the violence, some bakers began including an extra loaf in their orders to ensure their customers were happy and that they would live to bake another day! This has come to be known as the “baker’s dozen.”

Facing such hardships, the artisan baker is an increasingly rare breed. Truly it is a lot to balance: the technical knowledge to understand and execute complicated formulas, the patience to oblige and respect the organic processes that take place on their own schedule, the strength to deftly manipulate fifty pounds of slippery dough as well as the artistic ability to hand form the dough into countless different styles and score it perfectly to produce a beautiful and flavorful loaf. We eat first with our eyes, after all.

On the evening I arrived, I joined our Head Baker, John Aversa, and Michelle, his young assistant. Enthusiastic and eager, I expected to jump into things, but was immediately impressed by the meticulous care that went into every step of the baking process; artisan bread is laborious and never easy. We began by gathering supplies, ingredients were weighed and put in the cavernous mixer at specific intervals and then the heavy, cumbersome dough that resulted was placed into large containers to rise until the “first turn.” Different breads, I would discover have different rise times, depending on the amount and type of starters they use. The levain and pouliche we use in our breads are natural starters, which allow the breads to rise without the use of commercial yeasts. John has adapted his formulas throughout the years and while he relies on them to an extent, much of the dough making process was a matter of him “feeling” the other variables, such as temperature and timing. Ultimately, he would know when the dough was ready by knowing what to look for. Bakers sometimes judge dough by the window test – stretching the dough so that it’s thin enough to see through, without breaking. This is one way to see if enough gluten has developed to strengthen the dough.

While John is a baker with a reverence and deep respect for tradition, he also has his own methods and approach. This was made evident when we began our brioche, a notoriously difficult dough to work with due to the amount of butter that’s called for. Butter, while a common topping to bread, is rarely used in the dough – none of the other breads we made that night used any. Traditional French bakers have a very particular way of making brioche, keeping the butter very cold and adding it in very small amounts to the mix. While John keeps his butter chilled right up until he needs it, he deviates by beating the butter until it’s thoroughly whipped, and then adds it to the dough all at once. This break from convention would engage many a traditionalist but I’m here to tell you that the finished product rivals the brioche I can clearly remember savoring in Paris.

By 1:00 am, all the dough was mixed: pain complet, sesame semolina, baguette, ciabatta, Italian, focaccia, multi grain, and brioche. The times for turning each type of dough were determined and recorded in Michelle’s notebook. We moved to the next kitchen for our first lesson in forming. We started with the most difficult of all of the breads, the iconic baguette. “Palms on the table please,” John reminds us as we’re rolling out the delicate portions. My competitive nature was my downfall here, as I discovered you couldn’t actually beat dough into submission. It’s alive and unforgiving at this stage. I was disappointed in the fat ends of my baguettes in comparison with John’s beautifully tapered forms.

At this point, I realized just how many factors are crucial to crafting exquisite bread: the frequency and temperature at which you feed your starter (which will ultimately determine if it’s mild or strongly flavored bread) , the timing and number of turns, the preform, shaping, proofing, scoring, steaming, bake time and a myriad of factors that I can’t comprehend, all have a significant effect on the appearance and taste of the end product. I could truly appreciate what it meant to be an artisan baker and it could not be boiled down to an exact science. It was the sum of many skills and an artistry that is not learned in a few years of school or apprenticeship, but achieved through a lifetime of passion and commitment to the craft of bread making.

Back to forming…..we moved from baguettes to batards, which proved to be slightly easier for me to handle. At this point, I started talking to the dough and asking it to cooperate and forgive me because it was my first time. Next we did boules and finally brioche rolls, which were the simplest to shape, and I actually attempted rolling 1 in each hand. The brioche is always the most difficult to work with because of the amount of fat in it’s make up, but we were able to braid them and then make some brioche à tête just for fun. This gave me a small amount of confidence for my forming abilities and when they came out of their molds in the oven, I tasted victory.

Ultimately, at 6:30am, I gave in to my exhaustion, and left just before the last loaves were to come out of the ovens. John and Michelle were jovial and optimistic about the evening’s work and I thanked them for allowing me a window into their world. The most significant thing I gained from my all night baking experience was the ability to gauge a loaf of bread by looking at it – the height, the shape, the color and the cell structure of the crumb (interior) reveal much about what it will taste like and the amount of care that was taken in creating it.

The next time you eat at any of The Bagby Group’s restaurants (Bagby Pizza Company, Ten Ten American Bistro, Fleet Street Kitchen or, this fall in Towson, Cunningham’s and Cunningham’s Café & Bakery), take notice of the bread and you’ll taste what I mean. The flavor and soul of these breads are much more than just the sum of their parts.

1) Crabs. Never has a more perfect food and beverage pairing been imagined than blue crabs and Riesling. Sometimes people forget just how delicate the flavor of blue crab really is; overwhelming that delicacy with California Chardonnay or, god forbid, some sort of Imperial IPA should be a felony.

2) Heat. Its supposed to be 95 or above every single day this week. With temperatures like these, one needs a wine with ample acidity and a light enough frame to not seem heavy or tiresome. Enter Riesling. While we’re not sure of its electrolyte content, we can assure you its more refreshing than Gatorade.

3) H.L. Mencken, who kept a cellar full of German Riesling to get him through Prohibition. We bet he was removing bottles pretty regularly during the summer months at 1524 Hollins Road. We’ll follow his lead.

4) Lake Trout. Okay, its not trout and it doesn’t come from a lake, but when its fried until crispy and dashed with hot sauce, it becomes the sort of dish that needs Riesling as its sidekick. We’d lean towards something just off-dry, but pretty much anything you find should work.

5) FSK’s Hermann J. Wiemer Wine Dinner. A shameless plug, we admit, but this is a no brainer: five Rieslings from arguably the best producer of Riesling outside of Europe paired with five courses from Fleet Street Kitchen’s Executive Chef, Chris Amendola. And before you go ahead thinking Chef will be taking the easy route and offering five dishes of seafood, be sure to check out the menu. Four words: lamb neck with Riesling. Amazing. (The dinner is on Wednesday July 24th at 6:00pm. $79 per person.)

6) Chris Davis. He’s on pace for the first 60 home run season baseball has seen in twelve years. Sounds like something to celebrate. Champagne? In this heat? No way. He needs Sekt, the German term for sparkling wine – the best examples being made from Riesling. Fizzy, bright and gulpable, this stuff is so delicious, Mr. Davis might consider drinking it instead of spraying it on his teammates.

7) The Summer of Riesling, Baby! Did it take us this long to mention that it is THE Summer of Riesling? A nationwide celebration began by the ultimate wine iconoclast, Paul Grieco, a few years back, one can now find all sorts of interesting Riesling promotions going on at a handful of restaurants across town. Our very own Fleet Street Kitchen is participating, of course, as is Wit & Wisdom, Pabu, Wine Market and Mr. Rain’s Funhouse.

8)More refreshing than Natty Boh. Its tough to knock Boh. Its a Baltimore tradition. But whether patio dining, sitting on the front stoop, or cooking in front of the grill, you’re more likely to find a glass of Riesling in our hands than a can of Boh. Again, no offense to Mr. Boh, but until he can offer the spine-tingling acidity of a good Kabinett, we’ll stick with Riesling.

9)Value. Here’s one of the best kept secrets in the wine world: Riesling is ridiculously undervalued; for $20 to $30 one can buy world-class examples. Even for $10 to $20 there are scores of spectacular options. How many spectacular wines can one find for $10 from Napa or Bordeaux? Not many.

10)You probably don’t drink enough Riesling. Chinese food, Vietnamese food, Thai food, anything seafood related, most pork dishes… are you drinking Riesling? If not, you should be. Going over to dinner somewhere and unsure what the host is making? Bring a bottle of Riesling. Rivaled only by rosé, Riesling is flat-out the most food flexible wine there is. It drinks well with just about everything. Not a believer? Join us in our restaurants this summer, order a glass, a few plates of food and see what we mean.

]]>https://thebagbykitchen.wordpress.com/2013/07/15/top-ten-reasons-to-drink-riesling-in-baltimore/feed/0bagbygroupImageMaryland Soft-Shell Celebration at Fleet Street Kitchen & Ten Ten American Bistrohttps://thebagbykitchen.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/maryland-soft-shell-celebration-at-fleet-street-kitchen-ten-ten-american-bistro/
https://thebagbykitchen.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/maryland-soft-shell-celebration-at-fleet-street-kitchen-ten-ten-american-bistro/#respondFri, 24 May 2013 21:20:09 +0000http://thebagbykitchen.wordpress.com/?p=243Continue reading →]]>For the next week, soft-shell blue crabs are hitting the tables across Baltimore for Downtown Partnership’s Soft-Shell Celebration. Here at Fleet Street and Ten Ten, Chef Amendola and Chef Black have prepared two magnificent soft-shell specials. These will be running for the next week….

Beverage Director Tim Riley has also been hard at work creating some spring inspired cocktails for Fleet Street Kitchen, many of which are made with his housemade ingredients, including a rose vermouth and hibiscus grenadine. Each cocktail adds it’s own flavor to the palate of spring and the early buds of summer.

Chef Roger Black is a big fan of pancakes. So when he recently came on as our new Chef De Cuisine at Ten Ten American Bistro, perfecting Ten Ten’s sour cream pancake recipe was high on his list. Sour cream gives pancakes an added tangy flavor, similar to buttermilk, but their true decadence is in their texture. Smooth and silky, a bite into these pancakes is unbeatable. This may be one of the sexiest pancake recipe yet. We pair it with our homemade blueberry preserves and mint, sourced from our own Cunningham Farms, and a slide of extra sour cream (or as we did at Easter, some homemade Nutella). Note: if you’ve never tried mint with blueberries and pancakes, you’re in for a surprise! We hope you enjoy this recipe and if you’re not a cook, you are always welcome to stop in to Ten Ten for brunch (Sundays, 11am-3pm)…the pancakes will be waiting for you.

TEN TEN’S SOUR CREAM PANCAKES

1 3/4 cups sour cream

1 3/4 cups milk

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 large egg

2 tablespoons butter – melted

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

Enjoy and let us know what you think of the recipe by commenting below!